Eco lighting and dimming

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  • bailers
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 31

    Eco lighting and dimming

    Although I have my Loxone miniserver installed I am still looking at how I tackle dimming! As part of the renovation of my house I am rewireing and fitting new lighting. I have already fitted some 240v ceiling lights (WAF requested) and some 12volt down lighters.

    The options I see so far are:

    Loxone dimmer modules - pricey but lots of advantages
    DMX dimmer packs linked to Loxone dmx extension - cheap but bulky


    One other possible option.......
    I am intrigued by LED however I have always thought of LED as accent lighting and not the main source of light. I would love to know how people use LED lighting. Do you use 240v fittings or low voltage? How do you tackle dimming? Any good online retailers?
    I like the idea of using something like this however I am unsure what type of light fittings it can work with?

    DIM84DIN - 8 Channel PWM Lamp/LED dimmer module, 12V/24V, 5A per channel. Controlled by a universal 0-10V analogue control voltage input - PLC and Crestron™ compatible. DIN Rail mountable


    Thanks

    Chris
  • Vangelis
    Automated Home Guru
    • Sep 2009
    • 131

    #2
    A user on here called Toscal is very knowledgable about this subject - Hopefully he will see this thread and respond

    Comment

    • bailers
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 31

      #3
      Originally posted by Vangelis View Post
      A user on here called Toscal is very knowledgable about this subject - Hopefully he will see this thread and respond
      Thanks, I also know he likes the look of the Loxone system!

      Toscal?.........

      Comment

      • toscal
        Moderator
        • Oct 2005
        • 2061

        #4
        LED lighting can be used as main lighting. My kitchen is completely LED. The only part of the house that isn't is my Bedroom, as this uses G9 bulbs and the LED version doesn't fit the light fitting.

        Fittings can be 12V AC/DC, or Mains . It depends on what you want and the type of light required. If you PM with what you want to do. ie downlights in kitchen with under cabinet lighting. I can give you an idea of whats possible.
        If you click on the website in my signature and then click on the installs page, (you will then need to click on one of the 4 pictures to see the rest of our installs) you can see what is possible and also our design service.
        IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
        Renovation Spain Blog

        Comment

        • Wexfordman
          Automated Home Guru
          • Nov 2005
          • 118

          #5
          Hi toscal,

          Feeling you might regret the open invite, but I have some queries you might be able to advise on. I have in the living room 7x gu10 220v lights, it's the highest load lighting circuit in the house and the most often used. Any suggestions on a dimmable alternative. I am using a velbus vmbdmi unit to dim it at the moment which is a 400w dimmer for inductive or resistive loads.

          Regards
          Eamon
          Last edited by Wexfordman; 12 January 2013, 03:33 PM.

          Comment

          • philipp.schuster
            Automated Home Jr Member
            • Oct 2012
            • 17

            #6
            Hi Bailers,

            One important thing to know about dimming LEDs is that unlike incandescent lights the colour temperature of an LED will not change when dimmed. This means whilst the light output (lux) will vary, you will never get the warm yellowy glow that you get of a GU10 halogen. That said, there are now some LED bulbs that use multiple LEDs that fade in and out at different dim levels to achieve this effect. I am using some Philips DimTone down lights that work in this way with a Loxone Dimmer Extension, but the bulbs themselves are rather pricy so I am waiting for Kosnic to bring out their new range. There are rumours that they took on som ex Philips developers and got something rather similar coming out.

            @Toscal: Can you recommend any 12V / 24V DC LED spot lights that can be dimmed using PWM?

            All the best,

            Philipp
            Home Automation Enthusiast and Head of Loxone in the UK.

            Get the latest news on facebook, google+ or twitter!

            Comment

            • b33k34
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Dec 2012
              • 25

              #7
              Originally posted by philipp.schuster View Post
              Hi Bailers,

              OThat said, there are now some LED bulbs that use multiple LEDs that fade in and out at different dim levels
              I saw these linked on another forum - http://www.4326chris.talktalk.net/du...d%20strips.htm both warm and cool white LEDs on one strip. Presumably you could use this on two channels of a DMX dimmer to alter the temperature and dim level.

              Comment

              • philipp.schuster
                Automated Home Jr Member
                • Oct 2012
                • 17

                #8
                You could indeed.

                There are also RGBW (Red, Green, Blue, White) LED strips on the market now to make up for the fact that RGB LED strips cannot produce a warm white.
                Home Automation Enthusiast and Head of Loxone in the UK.

                Get the latest news on facebook, google+ or twitter!

                Comment

                • toscal
                  Moderator
                  • Oct 2005
                  • 2061

                  #9
                  There are also strips which have cold white and warm white so you can fine tune even further.
                  IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                  Renovation Spain Blog

                  Comment

                  • philipp.schuster
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Oct 2012
                    • 17

                    #10
                    There are also strips which have cold white and warm white so you can fine tune even further.
                    So 5 channels in one LED strips? RGBWW? wow... I didn't know that.
                    Home Automation Enthusiast and Head of Loxone in the UK.

                    Get the latest news on facebook, google+ or twitter!

                    Comment

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